Private conference desks



July12, 1960 M. LESSI 2,944,861

PRIVATE CONFERE C K July 12, 1960 M. LESSIN 2,944,861

PRIVATE CONFERENCE DESKS Filed April 9 195 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 28 INVENTOR I ,yLqu/QlCE' LESSIN w- I BY .ll/ I A NEY 2,944,861 PRIVATE CONFERENCE nEsKs Maurice Lessin, 1840 Portal Drive NW., Washington, D.C.

Filed Apr. 9, 1958, Ser. No. 727,340

6 Claims. (Cl. 312-196) sounding the top of a desk.

In many large ofiices a number of desks are located in the same room, as for example in bank lobbies or brokers ofiices, where it is customary for oflicials or other administrative or executive employees to occupy desks unsurrounded by partitions and in full view of everyone in the room. It frequently happens that a conference at the desk of one of the occupants is necessary, when private or confidential matters are to be discussed, and other persons awaiting their turn to discuss business or other private matters with such occupant or one nearby, overhear such conversations, while on the other hand persons who wish to discuss confidential mattors are often loathe or too embarrassed to do so, for fear of being overheard by others in the vicinity. Furthermore, the desks being easily accessible to other persons in a large room, there is the possibility that passers by may intrude by breaking into the conversation to ask a question or make some comments at a crucial moment during negotiations and thereby cause interruptions. While it is desirable to' place such ofiicials or employees in a private room or surround each desk with partitions to form a cubicle in order to provide privacy, this is not always feasible since separate, private rooms utilize more space thanis available and create problems of heat, light andventilation for each room, while partitions or cubicles mar the attractiveness of ornate and spacious rooms and lobbies. Furthermore, such privacy is not always necessary or desirable in the ordinary course of business during the day, but becomes so only infrequently.

One object of this invention is therefore, to provide a desk on which a movable panel structure is mounted and which may be moved vertically relative to the desktop to provide privacy by enclosing it on three sides, and which does not interfere with the normal use of the desk.

Another object of the invention is to provide a transparent panel structure which is movably attached to a conventional desk and which may be raised automatically to enclose the desk top on three sides or to lower the same away from the top andin which no operating mechanism for same is visible or interferes with the normal use of the desk.

Fig. 1 shows a conventional desk with guideways attached thereto for shdably supporting individual transparent panels.

Fig. 2 shows a conventional desk with the panel structure so constructed as to be movable as a, unit on guideways attached to the desk. 7

Fig. 3 shows the rear of the desk with the operating mechanism for raising and lowering the panel structure of Fig. 2 with the'panel structure removed.

. Fig. 4"is1a cross-sectional view on line 4-4 of Fig. 1

showing a spring member within one of the trackways for supporting a panel in raised position.

v Fig. 5 is a view of the one-piece panel assembly utilized in the embodiment of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is, across-sectional view of a modified form of guideway and panel frame member slidable therein.

Patented July 12, 1960 'of the sides 4 are U-shaped, upright channel members 5 with their open sides facing rearwardly. The channel members are secured to the 'sides of the desk by screws,

there being openings 6 in the sides of the members for the inertion of a tool for tightening the screws. -The channel members 5 extend but slightly above the desk top and have a flattened spring member 7, of the shape shown in Fig. 4, attached to the web of the channel near its uppermost end, as by welding or riveting. The rear channel members 8 are secured to the rear corners of the desk each of which comprises a right angled post, the edges of which are channeled at 12 and 13 to receive the edges of the side and rear panels 9, 10 and 11. The panels are preferably of transparent or translucent material such as glass or plastic composition, the edges of which are enclosed in channeled, rigid, metallic frame members such as aluminum which are slidably mounted in the upright member 5 and 8. When the panels are raised from their lowered position, the flat, spring members 7 within the channeled upright members 5 and 8 provide sufiicient friction to maintain the panels in their raised positions. a

It is preferred, however, that the panels be raised or lowered automatically by the occupant of a desk without leaving his position at the desk. To this end, the two side panels and the rear panel are secured together to form a-single integral frame as shown in Figs. 2 and 5. The metallic frame for supporting the light-transmitting panels 15' and 16 comprises two rear corner uprights which are channeled to receive the side edges of the panels 15' and 16, the lower ends of the uprights being connected by a lower horizontal channeled member 16 for receiving the bottom edge of the rear panel 15'. Extending forwardly of the lower ends of the uprights 15 are lower side channel members 17, from the forward ends of which extend the upright channeled, frame members 18 parallel to the rear corner uprights 15. The side, light-transmit ting panels 16 are supported at their side and bottom edges within the channeled frames 15, 17, 18. The upright frame members 18 are dimensioned to have a sliding fit within the guideways 5 as shown in Fig. 2. In a modified form such as shown in Fig. 6, the forward edges of the frame members 18 may be T-shaped in cross-section and slidably mounted in the guideways 5 which are of corresponding shape as shown, to receive the frame members 18.

Secured to the lower horizontal, channeled member 16 on its forward side as by welding or otherwise, is a hollow nut member 19 which has a vertically extending threaded opening therethrough. Mounted on the rear wall4' of the desk is a lead screw 20. Suspended from the underside of the desk and extendingrearwardly of the back wall thereof is a bracket member 21 having a bore therethrough for receiving the lead. screw, to the lower end of which is fastened the bevel gear 22. The

bracket is in the form of a right angled member as shown in cross-section in Fig. 7, the vertical wall of which is secured to the inner side of the back wall 4. A collar 23 is secured to the lead screw in a position to support it on the horizontally extending leg of the bracket 21. At its upper end the lead screw is supported in a bearing member 24 secured to the rear wall of the desk or to the rear surface, of the top 2 if the latter is flush with the wall, the end of the lead screw rotatable within the bearing being unthreaded and of slightly smaller diameter The motor is reversible and is energized by circuitE as shown in Fig; 9. The leads of the circuit areconnected to the common terminals of a double-pole doublethrow'switch 30, one pairof contacts being reversely connected in the circuit with respect to the correspond ing contactspf the other pair. Switches 27, ZB-are-incorporatedin each of the motor circuits provided by the twopairs of contacts of switch 30. Theswitches 27, 28 may beof' the type which are normally biased toclosed position. Switch 27. may be mounted anywhere on the desk so that it may be contacted by apart on one of the moving panels when in its uppermost position to deenergize the motor and switch 28 is also mounted in position to be engaged by some part of the panel or extension thereof to deenergize the motor when the panel is in its lowermost position. As shown in Fig. 2, switch 27 is engaged by a small projection 29 on the lowermost part'of the panel and the lower switch may be in position to be contacted by the lower paneledge or projection 29. The double pole double-throw switch is preferably mounted on an inner wall of the desk within easy reach of an operator, so that when seated thereat, he may control the operation of the motor to raise or lower the panel structureat will, and the panel will be automatically arrested when it has reached its extreme uppermost or lowermost position.

While the desk illustrated in. Fig. 2 is shown with a rearwall on which the lead screw is mounted, many desks are not so constructed, but may be of the type which comprises merely a pair of spaced apart pedestal bases and a desk top extending between and secured to such bases. In such a construction, it is contemplated that in addition to a bottom shelf such as 3' secured to and extending between the pedestals for supporting the motor, a board may extend across the rear of the desk and secured to the rear surfaces of the pedestals to support the angle plate 21 upon which the lead screw is mounted. If desired, the lead screw assembly and panel structure when in lowered position, may be hidden from view by providing an enclosure surrounding the panel assembly. Such enclosure may be rigidly constructed ofmetal or plywood. sheets to have the same outward shape as the panel structure and is of desk-height. The forwardly extending sides of such enclosure may be attached to the sides of the guideways 5 and since the panel assembly is spaced a slight distance from the floor, .sufl'icient space exists near the bottom of the desk for bracing the. bottom enclosure against the desk to provide a rigid attachment thereto so that the desk, panel structure and enclosure forms a single unit.

In operation, when the panel structure is assembled to the deskwith its feed nut 19 mounted on the lead screw andfits forwardframe members 18 slidably mounted in the guideways 5, movement of switch 30 to the left in Fig. 9 closes one pair of contacts to drive the motor in a direction to move the panel assembly upwardly. When the projection. 29 on the panel structure has reached its uppermost position, projection 29 engages, limit switch 27- to deenergize the motor. Upon movement ofthe switch to the right, the motor rotates in the opposite direction to lower the panel assembly until the. bottom edge of'a panel section or projection 29 engages lower limit switch 28 for deenergizing the motor.

' Iclaim:

outer surfaces of thfiiOPPOSl'tG sides and" rear of the-desk and open at its upper end, said enclosure includinga'pair' of light transmitting vertically extending side panels and a light transmitting rear panelextending between and rigidly secured to the rear ends of the side panels, means supporting said enclosure for vertical movement relative to the desk between positions wherein the top and bottom edges of the enclosure are adjacent the desk top, said means including a vertical guiding member extending along the forward end portionof each side of the desk and securedto the outer surfacethereof, a guided member secured to the forward end of each side panel and slidably interengageable with a respective guiding memher, a driving element'and a driven element mounted respectively on. the desk and enclosure and engageable for supporting the enclosure and moving it vertically in either direction, one of the members of each interengageable pair comprising a hollow tube having a vertically extending slot through a wall facing the other of the members, said slot extending substantially the length of the tube and being narrower in width than the width dimension of the hollow interior portion of the tube, the other of the members of the pair being shaped and dimensioned to conform to that of the interior of the tube and slidably mounted therein. 7

2. In combination with a desk having a base and a top, of a light-permeable enclosure extending about the outer surfaces of the opposite sides and rear of the desk and open at its upper end, said enclosure including a pair of light transmitting vertically extending side panels and a light transmitting rear panel extending between and rigidly secured to the rear ends of the side panels, means supporting said enclosure for vertical movement relative to the desk between positions wherein the top and bottom edges of the enclosure are adjacent the desk top, said means including a vertical guide member extending along the forward end portion of each side of the desk and secured to the outer surface thereof for slidably supporting the forward ends of the side panels, a driving element and a driven element mounted respectively on the desk and enclosure and engageable for supporting the enclosure and moving it vertically in either direction, each of the vertical guide members including a hollow tube having a vertically extending slot through its rearwardly facing wall, said slot extending substantially the length of the tube and being narrower in width than the .width dimension of the hollow interior portion of the tube, the forward end portions of the panels being shaped and dimensioned to conform to those of the interior of the tube and slidably mounted therein.

. 3. The combination of claim 1, in which said driving element includes a vertical lead screw secured to the rear portion of the desk and ahollow nut secured to the lower edge portion of the rear. panel and threadably mounted on the lead screw.

4. The. combination of claim 1 further including electrical motive means connected to the driving element for alternately moving it in opposite directions to alternately raise and lower theenclosure, a circuit for energizing the electrical motive means and limit switch means operated by the enclosure at predetermined positions during its movement in either direction of travel for opening the circuit to deenergize the electrical motive means.

5. The combination of claim 1 further including reversibly movable electrical motive means connected to the'driving element, a first circuit for energizing said motive means for movement in one direction to raise the enclosure, a second circuit for energizing said motive means for movement in the opposite direction for lowering the enclosure, switch;means for alternately connecting 'the motive means to saidfirst and second circuits, a serially connected limit'switch' biased to closed position in each of said circuits and means-movable with said enclosure for opening the switch inthe first circuit when the enclosure reaches a predetermined position while being raised and'for opening the switch in thesecond circuit 5 a when the enclosure reaches a predetermined position while being lowered.

6. In combination with a desk having a base and a top, of a light-permeable enclosure extending about the outer surfaces of the opposite sides and rear of the desk and open at its upper end, said enclosure including a pair of light transmitting vertically extending side panels and a light transmitting rear panel extending between and rigidly secured .to the rear ends of the side panels, means supporting said enclosure for vertical movement relative to the desk between positions wherein the top and bottom edges of the enclosure are adjacent the desk top, said means including a vertical guiding member extending along the forward end portion of each side panel and slidably interengageable with a respective guiding member, a driving element and a driven element mounted respectively on the desk and enclosure and engageable for supporting the enclosure and moving it vertically in either direction, one of the members of each interengageable pair comprising a laterally extending flanged portion and the other of the members of the pair having a laterally extending recess for slidably receiving said flanged portion.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 335,432 Dalzell Feb. 2, 1886 1,778,510 Richardson Oct. 14, 1930 1,899,687 Herrmann Feb. 28, 1933 2,633,399 Haas Mar. 31, 1953 2,694,614 Dent Nov. 16, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS Germany Mar. 23, 1925 

